The Time Being | Steve Kilbey

i am the white hippy moses
yonder lies the land of soy milk n manuka honey
i am a stoned martyr of space rock
st steven the second
the time being
some name me the freckle faced killah
others invoke me as sk
sometimes nevets when things are in reverse
i have been sent to sing this lullabye for you
i am the alpha
and the centauri
i am also a virgo with type o blood
my drivers licence expires 22/11/2006 A.D.
i have escaped from the “straights”
and i lead my people across the desserts
and wilda-nesses
out of slavery to gossip mags, tv and boy bands
i have parted the sea of mundanity
these are the commandments of my decka-logue
1 thou shalt not kill or eat killed things
2 thou shalt turn off tv +microwave+gasguzzlah
3 thou shalt buy all my merch n dice
4 thou shalt send free space rock cds etc to po box 7779,
bondi beach, nsw aust2026 but probably get no thanx or
reply
5 thou shalt do yoga chi gong swim-swim n walk evareeware
6 thou canst smoke the sacramental herb whenever you like(baybee)
7 thou shalt attend enmore tivoli n whatever it is in mellbin(if poss)
8 thou shalt try n understand
9 thou shalt not worship actors
10 a big fat hen

i am anathema to unimaginitive turkeys
in my right hand i hold the bottle of grape juice
in my left i hold the fender bass
52 years in the southern hemisphere
my veneers have been blasted by the sun and wind
my methods are random n chance
a real idiot savant
i stumble around in sound
and come up with my humble offering
to the great ones gone before me
yer lennons
yer dylans
yer bolans n bowies
yer floydwinds n enos
yer harleys n nelsons n stranges
yer foxxes
yer krautrockers
yer youngsteens n tomverlainesmith
i am the intersection of all these things
where parallel lines do truly converge
ancient nineveh n magnetic fields
i am the anachronism
i am king midas sideways
i am the reasonable reason
the unanswerable answer
those who seek me are few yet well rewarded
a high n lonely destiny said the nephews magician
i have delusions of grandeur
i have an ipodd in a black rubber skin
i have it on now as i listen to mare vaporum
if you think youve heard space rock
wait till you hear mimesis my children
i am determined to explore other realms n possibilities
i do not, have not let feeble minded criticisers
sway me from my mission
i am an egotistical yet modest man
i am old yes but so much younger than most
i came into this world 13 9 1954 A.S.K
i have been around much much longer than that
so too you my flokk, if you could but beleave it
i am the summoner of racquets with my 4 string wand
i wander slightly ahead of the kick
i hover n i glide n i propel
i am the surrealistic pillar
i am the king edward lear with my five daughters
i am a lewis carroll on drugs
i am aseeking xanadu
i am a refugee from politics wars n fluoro office wasteland
i am the 1st son of a 1st son of a 1st son
i am a son of a gun and a son of a bitch
i love to talk about myself
i love to make grand pronouncements
i love to be loved
i hate to be loved
i hate to be hated
but i never love to be hated
i protest the right to do what i want with my own consciousness
i dispute anyone anywheres right to kill anything for any reason
i love space rock
i love naive painters
i love arthur rimbaud n dylan thomas
i love cs lewis n melvyn peake
i love the twilight zone n
manuel on the isle of marvels
i need subtlety sometimes
i crave fine thoughts n original thinkers
i am forgiven at last
i am trying
i am leading you towards….?
i am the white hippy moses
amen jewel

eggo n the wiggly men up on a salt charge?
midget urine n vienna?
anthony n restaurant mark in atlantis?
krissy the grouper takes the hook line n sinka?
get painted n stone?
johnny garrett says something kinda ironic n pragmatic?
b bon can parlay voo fronsay?
gareth of notts joins love cult?
mr n mrs baal n zeus =hippy hippy shake?
staci grove sits on a log
pickin fleas off the back of her dog…oooh shes a nice cat!
i got on mah knees n i prayed to the sun
cos i knew my manhood had begun…
picture yerself as fool at a keyboard
typing a bloggy and rollin’ a spliff
somebody comments
you chuckle quite madly
that smartarse deserves quite a biff
eve n aurora appear on the shore-a
waiting to take you awa-ay
look for the one with the wiggly tooth n yer gone
killa in the sea with doodles
killa in the sea with doodles
ahhh ohhh!
maybe i am losing my tiny mind
hand shandy
you came n you gave without taking
but i sent you away
my ears arent ringing theyre screaming
every fuckin’ note that we ever played
still goin on n on inside my skull
my beard gettin longer n whiter (the anti-claus)
(sant a’claws)
my handsome face melting in the miasma of years
my sharp mind clouded with time n drugs n argy bargy
my memories foggy n unremembered
my eyesight dimmer not receiving at all
my hands feeble clutching at straws
my ego inflatable dolly
sucking me vapidly into a narcissistic void
my music a dull racquet
enki says hey nevets
its the beginning of sumer
zeus says
what the fuck?
howcome no one worships me anymore?
pan says little to the left
little to the right
newspapers say takeover rumours swirled round stockmarket
birds outside window say tweet tweet tweet
which in bird language means
ooh yer still a handsome olde parrot
dollar down
gold down
all ordinaries down
ducklings down
dont you ever listen?
dont you ever learn?
todd rundgren , did you really sing the cars songs?
on sunday im flyin’ to mellbin
to judge a songwritin contest
jesus christ!
has it come to this?
lovely song, young man
now just to get the words n music
and yer there!!
lovely song, young lady
have you ever considered a career in shoes?
i thought it was a wet tshirt contest i was judgin’….
(hes a liquid)
imagine if my plane crashes
how will i keep bloggin’ till nov 22?
i will communicate via ouija boards
are you out there nevets?
one knock
are you on the otherside
one knock
do ya like guys eatin pizza n watchin the footy?
2 knocks
describe the afterlife then
frantic knocking
whos there?
nevets
nevets who?
nevets yeb-lik!

i dont get it

thank you
whoever you are who organized all this
you know who you are
you know who i think you are
but maybe you are so large and immanent
that you comfortably can wear a million names
or be completely nameless…
my own day yessaday was very nice
cold green pool
chi gong
hot sauna w/ spiritual discussion
soy chai with friends
little bit of thisnthat
pick up doodles
aurora sayin’ in her jimmy stewart voice
well ah dad ya see im too knackered to have a swim
2 n a half hours later
and after a friend has taught me how to surf underwater
and pop out of the wave
miss aurora still playin’ hard on a giant sandhill
i guess that illustrates the curative powers of the salt air
we get in and they both start devouring everything in sight
the swedes say the sea sucks
and it does
it sucks out yer anxiety n replaces it with a real sleepy bonhomie
no matter how freaked out you are
a good long dip in cold seawater gonna help some
if not piss the anxiety off altogether
you see the sea can fuck anxiety over
theres an axiom for ya
and the sea sucks at yer appetite
and you get hungry in a really nice way
except i always think of hot chips n potato scallops
but if when i occaisionally give in to this urge
i always regret it…..
i work on my painting
which is a portrait of 2 people
against a bondi background
but im trying to make everything VIVID
so ive taken a lotta liberties with their hair n clothes n stuff
so everything can be swirly n colourful
(get stoned n paint soon on dvd)
so i pick my most VIVID colours
n i listen to orion transfer
(deep space transmission)
and i jazz them n myself up
(oh you crazy old hippy archetype!)
el dude has paisley amoeba floating on lapels
la dudette has whales in pea green melange
bondi w/grey sky n buildings half colonial half modern
blocks of flats
the pines n the palms
i have a nice life i suppose
except its mine
and i’m in a horrible trap of taking it for granted
and ive known a few people like that
they have great lives
but they cant enjoy em cos theyre theirs
like a meal youve cooked yourself
you know how its all done
and youre a bit underwhelmed n blase by it
while others are saying wow this food is so nice…
dont underestimate all this
appreciation
i need to have more appreciation for things
be content
contentment yeah
one of the most desirable of all attributes
envying others ruins it
i know that
im sitting here now in my birthday present blue dressing gown
typing away this blog
global warming inc is presenting another “unnaturally” warm spring day
im gonna take yon childs to school
im gonna have aanother swim in pacific ocean
or is it the indian sea
im listening to ultravox systems of romance a lot lately
i saw an idiot in one of the english glossies
(yeah you know the ones that have dylan/beatles on every cover
and a cover version which is sure to have a song by ian mccullough)
anyway this idiot “journalist” gave the album 2 *s
how wrong you are mr writer
this is a four n a half ****s record
in my book anyway
sleek music with EXCELLENT lyrics
so so far ahead of its time
detached feelings executed in chrome in glass music
looking at the white world n the moon
i feel a soft exchange taking place…
john foxx i think youre one of the best lyricists ever on this record
talking of bobby dylan n ian mac
i ve heard dylans new record n i think its very funny
i also read that mccullough is up for assault
(what? no battery?)
on 2 members of audience in glasgow
there is an incredibly complicated news story
about 2 fans who heard that
“there might be a possibility of going backstage”
and when they went back n used mr mcculloughs toilets
he assaulted em
causing blood to appear on the female ones forehead
(not a good career move macca)
i reckon this had something to do with cocaine
(of course i MAY be wrong)
why else would the possibility of going backstage existed?
so you mac could hear how much ya loved killing moon in donnie darko?
i reckon loada drunken argy bargy ensued…
quite pathetic really
thank god it wasnt me involved
thats all i think
i aint beaten up any female fans yet
(im too scared to, they might beat me up back!)
oh dear
i think i just contravened my own no bad news rule
thats the sorta stuff you can do
if ya got yer own blogge
like i do
you can contra-dicked yerself
and confound yer readers
who keep thinking
that you are slightly sane and/or responsible adulty
ha ha
no thats just an act folks
i really am a crazy old hippy
trying to have a quiet life
and enjoy the surf
before the environment
spits the dummy forever
i love ya
sk

some bad things happen
some people never hadda chance
some people never were playin’ with a full deck….
this world seems like a vale of tears
the fragility of life
the slender thread
someone born damaged
a troubled life
a terrible end
still very very very young
tears flowing
words are inadequate
and then
as if that aint enuff
minna rings next day
now the twillies mum karin has something
getting the tests done
very brave n positive
could be same thing as twillies had
could be worse
hopefully maybe it aint as bad
i thought karin was invulnerable
(and here i say hi to my friend leigh g
who had the same thing as the twills
man, i hope you get off that walking stick
your new records great
and you got an amazing head of hair
and
a very lovely missus,
so cmon man
be healed)
you cannot take anything for given
i speak yesterday to my friend with the little boy
whos covered in sores cos his maternal grandad
was exposed to agent orange in vietnam
this kid paying the price
30 years after a war hes never heard of ended
his hands n feet are livid pink dried up skin
i say how ya goin young fella
this kid looks up
good he says
lyndon b johnson
are you lookin’ down on yer handiwork?
this kid is two years old…….
hows yer fuckin’ domino theory now
you pathetic dead ratbag?
gee sorry
did our defoliant go on
years n years afterwards
causing birth defects…?
whoops…..oh collateral damage..
take 2 landmines n call us in the morning…
so there you go
sadness everywhere
but the human spirit is to fight n hope
not to cave into despair
not to become cold n removed
not to give up n give in
theres gotta be reason for all these things
in the full perspective of time maybe
itll all become apparent
why we are assaulted n battered with loss
why it seems some people got all the luck
n why others aint got none
im sorry guys
i WISH i did have at least one answer for ya
i WISH i could say some comforting things here
all i can say is
i know as an incontrivertible fact
that there IS a god
i hope one day he can explain all this to us
i know theres a reason why
as impossibly painful as it seems
i dont believe things happen for no reason
but im aint getting much comfort from it…
cherish the ones you love
tell them at every opportunity that ya love em
thats all i can suggest right now
and i pray that my sweet lord
can send a little hope n love
to this poor old world
give us all signs
look homeward angel
all my love
steven

vale andrew s

im uninspired to write this blogge
ive got nothin’ to say
and no way of saying it
theres been some very bad personal news(not mine)
that has slowed rehearsals right down
we are rehearsing in industrial suburb now
in middle of nowhere
either noisy guitars or lotsa blokes sitting round
smoking cigarettes and watching football
(ANATHEMA)
people drinking beer (burp)
people eating pizzas (ditto)
cars drivin’ up deliverin’ n takin’ away amps n drums
i do yoga in an empty rehearsal room
with the thump thump thump
of some dismal heavy metal plodders
coming thru the wall
just what this world neeeds
some tattooed turkeys grindin’ out
another ‘orrible bleeding racquet
some geezer singin’ in a high pitched voice
about the devil (yawn)
millions of “musicians” all over this world
dreamin’ of the big time
spendin’ their hard earned dough
on rehearsals n guitar pedals n beers n pizzas
many are called
but
few are chosen
still you say
let em have their dreams
even if their dream is generating a loathesome row
in a rehearsal room in belmore
sure sure
dream on boys
what the hell would i know
im jus’ knockin’ out this uninspired blogge
and thats it
bye

goji juice and godspeed you black emperor
i smoke some dope im getting quite immune to
the doodles wake the bumper up
its early sunday morning here in the eestin subbubs of sindney
yesterday los chruchos diablos trawled thru hours of songs
looking for a perfect setlist
not a note played, not a drum struck
just sittin’ there listening with amazement, contempt, amusement
to all these songs
which ones to play?
no no
please its no good suggesting em
cant you see that?
the song selection process is strange n random
i myself find it hard to impose my field on it
who selects the selectors?
and who selected them?
anyway im still no closer to findin’ out
which songs the ensemble will tackle
i was very very pissed off with a naughty taxi driver however
who arrived to take me to the stude
which is a 45 buck cab ride away across town
this chinese-y dude turns up late in this “silver service” taxi
(i’m not gonna do his accent here but imagine it as rather heavy)
oh oh i must take cab back to base, i cant take you to ryde
i say
well let me out now druid
he say
no no i take you to city
find another taxi for you
if not i promise i take you all the way
i say yeah well i wouldnt mind
but i got this great big heavy bass with a busted case
and all this other malarkey..
he say
oh no no
i look after you sir ha ha ha
anyway i strapp on my i poddy
but mr cabby keeps interrupting my reverie
with assurances of how he gonna look after me
but then again he say
the weather very nice its very busy…
already floating a possible loophole…
anyway we bypass the cross city tunnel
he interrupts my listnin’ pleasure again
to tell me how the tunnel is a waste of time
he say
much better to go thru city!!
3 50 cost too much!!
yeah maybe you save about 15 minutes…..
so we drive thru a crowded kings cross
with all its bullshit
and eventually hit ye olde city
full of traffique n pedestrianos
he keeps promisin’ me
i find cab for you at town hall
its his mantra
i find cab for you at town hall
but guess what…?
uh huh no cabs at town hall
you see everyday at 3 all the cabs change drivers
which means that at 3 oclock in sydney
finding vacant cabs is like finding hens teeth
or the tears of a hanged man
thats why i dont wanna get out
cos im lugging all this stuff
and i’ll be stranded in a crowded city
with a loada heavy junk
one more turkey searchin’ helplessly for a cab
he say i turn meter off now till i find you cab
then we drive round n round the city for 15 minutes
till we finally find another cab
he looks at meter n says just give me 30
i say druid, it was 20 bux when you said you was gonna turn it off
i coulda shoulda been there by now
you drove me round n round the city
which i wanted to bypass altogether
you costin me twice as much n takin twice as long
i give him a fifty dollar note
the little bugger gives me 20 back!
i say listen what the fuck..
he jumps out
sprints with my bass in its busted case to other cab
i m fuming as i sit in the new cab
he bends down to window
see see he take you all the way now
hes amazed that im not grateful
he shrugs n walks away
another happy customer….
so you see
didja realise that i’m a magnet for this kinda cockup
i had envisaged a smooth ride
wrapped in my headphones
oblivious to everything else
but what i got
was a loada argy bargy
and didnt listen to nuffink
i was too quietly miffed afterwards
turn up to rehearsal
already on the back foot
please no
get over its
im over it
its a done deal
anyway
this morning we gonna drive the chruchos hire car
to a nice harbour beach with a nice sharky net (with holes)
we gonna have foccacia for le brekko
soy blah blahs
the sand n the sea n the sky
swaying palms
spring mornings
parking traumas
etc
see ya later
unhappy rider of n bondi

both my father n his father died when they were 52
my grandfathers name was stephen kilbey
he lost an eye
he was a soldier
he died of pneu monia
my mother reckons it was tb
i only ever seen one picture of him
worried skinny dark haired man
a moustache
grey london buildings fading into a forgotten past
englands rain n grime and classes
you might as well had a caste system
my father never spoke of his father
sometimes when i was little
i ask my dad about his father
but he would drift off in thought
and it seemed it made him so sad
so i never really pursued it
i got the v in steven so people could call me steve
im sure my lost grandfather got called steve n stevie sometimes
i mean was steve invented in the 1950s?
anyway so you see 52 is a little barrier to get across for me

you probably wundering why another blog
comes so hot on the heels of the last
and that is cos today los groopos churchos
stumble into action
hit the ground running on empty
late and lost as usual
so i probably wont have time
cos i’ll be so busy waiting around
for the blah blah box to get plugged in right
so i’m sittin’ here earlyish
knocking out this now
well obviously i’m doing it NOW
i couldnt be doing it then
could i?
and i thought some of you
might be getting bored with that other stuff
and you going
cmon timebeing
how bout dem electrick geetars
well baybee
and this is just for you
those e guitars gonna be out in spades
cos today we start rehursing
in a secret location
in an ordinary leafy springtime avenue
space rock will be invoked
in a dark dank basement
concealed in rock and lead
lies a chambre of sound
lined in lincoln green carpet
and impressionist wallpaper
surrounded by all the very latest gadgets
there in secret
in hiding
the germs of cosmic rock
a chord here
a clatter there
the bass slides into tune
somethin going tic tic tic
eventually you keep going you got space rock
apply to your local govt for a generous free sample of space now
space is the place
space is safe for all ages
space is needed
space for the whole wide world
so you see
we are creating more space
and letting it go
thats all

i know you wont believe this
but then what then is belief in belief itself
and what is in the realms of the unimaginable?
i have been to other worlds
there
i knew you wouldnt believe me
i can feel your palpable doubts
coming thru the screen
everytime i dissolve into sleep
but no…
that is not the world that would surprise one
the world of sleep
where do we go?
im sure youve been to the hypnagogue
ive seen you praying at that altar in the soft dawn
music drifting across the lawns
the priestess at the hypnagogue is my sister
but none of this has anything to do
with whatever it was i meant to say
i have been to other worlds…
oh yes….that…
yes i have done that,
tho’ i dont blame those who dont believe it
the means can be found in many books
leaving this earth by bobby houdeen
or
john erskines astraltravelogue
if you want to try it for yourself
be careful tho
many are trapped elsewhere
disappearances are not uncommon
but travel must be approached with confidence
please this is no joke
hesitation can cause unpredictable effects
einstein sent a cruiser to another dimension
strange little beasties on the surface tension
you see
surrounding every thing alive
there is a field
and in the unified field
the creatures feed
each according
to its need
when you can impinge your field upon other fields
this can be called magic
try this simple test
tonight as you fall asleep try to remain conscious
impossible you say
but no wait here for me
oh yes let your heavy body slumber
but let the mind remain alert and nimble
let your spirit be sharp
and then when youre asleep
there you will find me
and then i will lead you
elsewhere
you must remain awake AND asleep
this must be mastered
or the experiment will not succeeed
you may feeel an oscillation
a feeling of lifting off
wait for me
do not proceed beyond this phase
if anything were to attack you
visualise vishnu in your heart chakra
and defend yourself with all you have
dont listen to the voices tempting and promising
you can only trust my voice
repeating your name in the mist a’head
your desire must be sincere
to sustain any injuries you may sustain
damage can be subtle
revealing itself over eons
mayhem can ensue
torture atrocities unhuman cruelties
i have seen an energy there
there is no name for these things
you see them from a distance
transparent things are hard to find
this is where youll need your faith
or a handful of lucidcalms
if your quack will still prescribe them….
theres definitely some bad things out here
its like the ocean
theres always sharks
whether you interest them or not…
thats a different thing of course
if you got a hankering for the astral sea
if you want to leave this heaviness behind
if you desire everything
if you can face ghastly horror and pure bliss
then stay
stay awake as you fall asleep
i’ll be waiting in the last place youd think
i’ll be flying
i’ll be just there at all
look hard with more than your eyes
i’m not a charlatan
youll need to propel yourself thru the planes of memory
thats it
up here
the surface
the real surface
you emerge into sudden light
as if a new morning had broken apart
and all the music was liberated
songs as yet unwritten
steal them as your own
where do you think i get my words?
overwhelming rays of tranquility
another vast body of water to traverse
voyaging for what seems like years
we come to another shore
here are things un-named and un-namable
i will fain risk punishment for revealing anymore
everyones watching
everyones listening
im not imagining it!
am i?
i’m certainly not mad!
am i?
hello
hello?
its 7 31 right now
im going out for a while
i may be sometimebeing

automatic blog
spirits confide in me
what shall i pass on from the otherside
the line goes silent
the camera fails
these spirits move in electricity
the lights flicker
these spirits have not yet passed over
gamblers n addicts tryin’ for just another hit
richmen who could not bear to leave their fortunes
spirits that animate sleeping children
and twist their features into grimace n snarl
spirits that hide things
spirits that chuck things around
spirirts disembodied
ammonia n coldness
hungry ghosts some say
the cats wake up
everything trembling oh so slightly
if you film em they blur into shadow
they are hard to capture
to record their hissing voices
and they follow you around
but you dont know what they want
do you?
there is no wind but everything flutters
the do not disturb signs clatter brittle against the door
the magnets reverse polarities
things run backwards
mirrors throw out reflections into the room
nightfriends coming thru the mirrors
come and go by mirror
the swans in the dark arch their black necks
the frogs are silent
in the water more reflections
reflections of reflections
patterns in the sand at the bottom of a pool
just keep following that black line
just a swimmer growing dimmer
in the glimmer of a summer
the sea gives up its ghosts
sailors and shipwrecks
women who turn into seals
dark cold green water
the ocean makes itself understood
all the rivers rushing into it
i heard a song once
“why did we ever leave the sea?”
churning ocean still ocean
grey ocean blue ocean
never yourself
but always the same
still life in motion
it has its patterns that are hard to perceive
yes it conceals leviathans and midgard serpents
other monsters in the depths we have hardly conceived of
yet our children bathe so happily in in her foamy arms
afternoon drifts in a little colder
sky hazes over to white again
feeble sunshine blotted out
the spirits reawaken you from your reverie
its time

1 for the lily white boys dressed all in green-o
2 for mysterious fields behind the iron fence
3 for the the dumb throb of love
4 for the four of diamonds representing aureolae
5 for lazarus fresh from the tomb
6 for the lucky pricks fell down from heaven
7 for the minotaur that bullheaded freak down ancient greek
8 for the eigth avatar
9 for the 9 of hearts representing resilience n chastity
10 for the decalogue baybee rememember thou shalt not kill
11 for the jack of hearts who in some games is boss
12 for the twelve times i saw you times twelve
13 for me because i was unlucky even at the start
14 is not my lucky number
15 for a 5 g bag
16 for a year in summer deep upon my zeebra
17 for instance a magic number another heaven
18 for alcohol
19 for drugs
20 for the many nights now gone
21 for the adult network
22 for the things i shot
23 skiddoo oh 23 pops up everywhere
24 for all the hours god sends some wings
25 id kick it it in the head when i was 25 pot jive
26 for the queen of spades who costs all the hearts
27 for the sleepy days i slept aways
28 for the cycle to continue may it ever
29 for the moonchild and its ascendancy
30 for never trusting anyone over
31 a number that is 13 backwards therefore=anathema
32 for the good doctor dee and his scrying out loud
33 for jesus
34 for more more more!
35 oh ya still alive?
36 a serpent enters eden
37 for identical mirrors perfectly alike e + m
38 for darkness who aint my friend either
39 for lost in a black mine
40 for being hopeless and naughty
41 for the king of clubs and cabarets
42 for the 42 wounds of the matyrs
43 for everyone out there in ohio
44 for the crazy people who lived across the road
45 for 45 things ive forgotten
46 for the hell of it
47 for the nature which has no number
48 crash comes like a lightnin’ flash
49 for the hanged man and his tears
50 the magicians who own islands
51 the kings in check
52 the cards in deck
(plus joker)